Thousands still without census form

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - The U.S. Constitution says each citizen must be counted once every 10 years, but millions of Americans have yet to get the 10 question form in the mail. Now what?

The Census Bureau says it is still mailing out forms. A second round of forms aimed at 40 million housing units in areas that had below-average response rates in the 2000 Census has already rolled out.

"We understand that people lead busy lives and may not have gotten around to sending back their forms yet," said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. "The replacement form gives them a second chance to get counted and help ensure that their community gets its fair share of political representation and federal funds over the next 10 years."

If you did not receive your form in the mail by April 12, 2010 there are some options available to you.

You can call 1-866-872-6868 and a representative will take your information over the phone or, if you request, by mailing you another form.

Filling the form out online is NOT an option.

KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR

If you don't call or receive the form, chances are you'll get a knock on your door starting sometime in the month of May. Hundreds of thousands of census takers will fan out across the country to count homes in EVERY neighborhood that did not return a form.

NO PERMANENT ADDRESS

The Census Bureau says you should be counted where you live and sleep most of the time, whether you are living with relatives because of a natural disaster or foreclosure, or are a college student living away from home, or a soldier living on a military base.

HOMELESS

The Service Based Enumeration (SBE) operation is designed to provide an opportunity for people experiencing some form of displacement or lack of permanent address to be included in the census, by counting them at service-based locations, such as homeless shelters, soup kitchens, etc. The Be Counted forms are available at many of these locations.

GETTING PREPARED

The census form asks just 10 questions. CLICK HERE for a list of the questions.

SCAMS

The census comes around once per decade, but scam artists are here to stay. A real census worker WILLNEVER:

Contact you for information via the Internet

Ask for your full social security number

Ask for money or a donation

Send requests on behalf of a political party

Request PIN codes, passwords or similar information related to finances